Spring Cloud Gateway
Spring Cloud Gateway: A flexible, self-hosted gateway for teams building on Spring. Ranked #5 of 29 in API Gateway Software by our editors (9.0/10); pricing: Free plan; best for spring-based application teams.
At a glance
- Editor score9.0 / 10
- PricingFree plan
- Best forSpring-based application teams
- Free planYes
- Paid fromFree
- Deployment modelSelf-hosted
- Facts checked20 Sep 2026
Where it wins
- Dynamic routing with route-specific predicates and filters
- Rate limiting, rewrites, transformations, and circuit breaker integration
- Supports HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, and gRPC conversion
Where it doesn't
- Requires self-hosted deployment and operational ownership
- Delivered as a library rather than a hosted gateway service
- Best suited to teams already working within the Spring ecosystem
Our verdict on Spring Cloud Gateway
Spring Cloud Gateway is an open-source library for building API gateways on Spring. It routes requests to backend services while adding capabilities such as security integration, monitoring, resiliency, rate limiting, path rewriting, circuit breakers, and service discovery. The Server variant can run standalone or be embedded in a Spring Boot application, with compatibility for Spring WebFlux and Spring Web MVC. It is aimed at application teams that want gateway behavior within a Spring-based architecture rather than a separately managed hosted service.
Routing is a major strength. Dynamic route matching can use request attributes, while route-specific predicates and filters support targeted request handling. The gateway also provides request rate limiting, path and request rewriting, request and response body transformation, WebSocket routing, and JSON-to-gRPC conversion. Integrations include Spring Security, Spring Cloud Circuit Breaker, Spring Cloud DiscoveryClient, and Redis. Authentication support covers Spring Security, OAuth 2.0, JWT, and opaque tokens, including token relay through Spring Security integration. These capabilities make it suitable for teams that need gateway controls close to their application and service-discovery stack.
The trade-off is the deployment model. Spring Cloud Gateway is self-hosted and distributed as a library and dependency, so teams must run and operate the gateway themselves rather than selecting a hosted gateway plan. Its fit is strongest for Spring-based teams that value open-source access, configurable routing, and integration with Spring services. Teams seeking a managed gateway service or a platform-neutral deployment model should consider an alternative. Choose Spring Cloud Gateway when gateway behavior belongs inside a Spring application environment; avoid it when minimizing infrastructure ownership is the primary requirement.
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Spring Cloud Gateway pricing
Spring Cloud Gateway fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | Free |
| Deployment model | Self-hosted |
| Supported protocols | HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, gRPC |
| Authentication methods | Spring Security, OAuth 2.0, JWT, opaque tokens |
| Rate limiting | Yes |
| Request transformation | Yes |
| Monthly request limit | Not verified |
| Deployment | Self-hosted |
| Support | Docs, Community |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 4 integrations: Spring Security, Spring Cloud Circuit Breaker, Spring Cloud DiscoveryClient, Redis |
| Pricing | Free plan |
| Website | spring.io |
| Facts checked | 20 Sep 2026 |
Spring Cloud Gateway integrations
Spring Cloud Gateway lists 4 integrations on its own site.
- Spring Security
- Spring Cloud Circuit Breaker
- Spring Cloud DiscoveryClient
- Redis
Alternatives to Spring Cloud Gateway
- Azure API ManagementA full-lifecycle API platform for enterprises with hybrid deployment needs.9.4
- Amazon API GatewayA broad AWS-native gateway for HTTP, REST, WebSocket, and private API workloads.9.3
- Apache APISIXA self-hosted gateway for teams needing broad protocol support and extensible traffic controls.9.2
See all Spring Cloud Gateway alternatives →
Spring Cloud Gateway vs the competition
- Spring Cloud Gateway vs Azure API Management
- Spring Cloud Gateway vs Amazon API Gateway
- Spring Cloud Gateway vs Apache APISIX
- Spring Cloud Gateway vs MuleSoft Omni Gateway
- Spring Cloud Gateway vs NGINX Gateway Fabric
- Spring Cloud Gateway vs Alibaba Cloud API Gateway
Compare Spring Cloud Gateway with any tool side by side →
Also Ranked In
Spring Cloud Gateway is ranked in 2 of our directories.
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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